Numerous patents have been directed to providing materials which have the physical and gustatory characteristics of triglyceride fats, but which are absorbed to a low extent or not at all by the body. These materials are referred to variously as noncaloric fats, pseudofats, nondigestible fats and fat substitutes. Patents pertaining to such materials include U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,927, Fulcher, issued Apr. 15, 1986, (fatty esters of malonic acid); U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,715, Volpenhein, issued Apr. 15, 1986, (alpha acetylated triglycerides); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,548, Whyte, issued May 18, 1981, (triglycerides of alpha-branched chain carboxylic acids).
One particular type of compound which has achieved considerable attention as a nondigestible fat is sucrose polyester (i.e., sucrose in which at least four of the eight hydroxyl groups are esterified with a fatty acid). U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,600,186, Mattson, issued Aug. 17, 1971; 4,368,213, Hollenbach et al. issued Jan. 11, 1983; and 4,461,782, Robbins et al. issued Jul. 24, 1984 describe the use of this material as a nondigestible fat in a variety of food compositions.
A problem associated with use of liquid nondigestible oils, i.e., those having a melting point below body temperature (about 37° C.), is an undesired passive oil loss effect, which is manifested in leakage of the liquid nondigested fat through the gastrointestinal tract's anal sphincter. Regular ingestion of moderate to high levels of completely liquid forms of these polyol polyesters can produce this passive oil loss. U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,195, Jandacek, issued Jan. 25, 1977, discloses the combining of higher melting fatty materials such as solid triglycerides and solid sucrose polyesters with the liquid sucrose polyesters in order to control oil loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,300 (Jandacek et al.), issued Jan. 10, 1989 discloses the use of certain solid sucrose polyesters which have high oil binding capacity for liquid sucrose polyesters (SPE) and liquid triglycerides, when used at levels of about 10% to 25% in said oils. It is disclosed that because of their high oil binding capacity, these solid sucrose polyesters have outstanding utility as agents to prevent passive oil loss of liquid nondigestible sucrose polyesters, and they are also useful as non-caloric hardstocks to use with liquid digestible or nondigestible oils in the preparation of semi-solid fat products such as shortenings and margarines. The oil binding agents of the Jandacek et al. '300 patent are solid sucrose polyesters wherein the ester groups consist essentially of a mixture of short chain saturated fatty acid ester radicals (C2-C10) and long chain saturated fatty acid radicals (C20-C24) in a molar ratio of short chain to long chain of from about 3:5 to about 5:3, and wherein the degree of esterification is from about 7 to about 8. Jandacek et al. also disclose plastic shortening and other food compositions containing 10-25% of the solid SPE.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,195 (Jandacek), issued Jan. 25, 1977 describes a means of preventing the undesirable oil loss effect through the addition of the polyesters as oil-loss control agents. The oil-loss control agents include solid fatty acids (melting point 37° C. or higher) and their triglyceride sources, and solid polyol fatty acid polyesters. Specifically C10-C22 saturated fatty acid polyesters are said to be useful at levels of at least 10%, preferably at least 20%.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,514 (Letton et al.), issued Apr. 26, 1994, discloses edible oil compositions containing a) a liquid nondigestible oil having a complete melting point below about 37° C., and b) a solid polyol fatty acid polyester having a complete melting point above about 37° C., wherein the weight ratio of b) to a) is from about 1:99 to about 9:91. The solid polyol fatty acid polyester consists of (i) a polyol having at least about 4 hydroxyl groups, wherein at least about 4 of the hydroxyl groups of the polyol are esterified, and (ii) ester groups comprised of (a) fatty acid radicals selected from the group consisting of C12 or higher unsaturated fatty acid radicals, C2-C12 saturated fatty acid radicals, or mixtures thereof, and (b) C20 or higher saturated fatty acid radicals, at a molar ratio of (a):(b) being from about 1:15 to about 1:1. In the solid polyol polyester at least 15% by weight of the fatty acid radicals are C20 or higher saturated fatty acid radicals. Further, the slope of the SFC profile of the mixture of a) and b) between 37° C. and 21.1° C. is between 0 and about −0.75.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,515 (Letton et al.), issued Apr. 26, 1994, discloses pourable compositions containing (A) a solid polyol fatty acid polyester, having a complete melting point above about 37° C., (B) a liquid nondigestible oil having a complete melting point below about 37° C., less than about 90% by weight of a digestible oil having less than 5% solids at 21° C.; and less than 10% hardstock; wherein the ratio of (A) to (B) is from about 1:99 to about 9:91 and wherein the pourable composition has a yield point of not more than about 100 dynes/cm2. The solid polyol fatty acid polyester consists of (i) a polyol having at least about 4 hydroxyl groups, wherein at least about 4 of the hydroxyl groups of the polyol are esterified, and (ii) ester groups comprised of (a) fatty acid radicals selected from the group consisting of C12 or higher unsaturated fatty acid radicals, C2-C12 saturated fatty acid radicals or mixtures thereof, and (b) C20 or higher saturated fatty acid radicals at a molar ratio of (a):(b) being from about 1:15 to about 2:1. In the solid polyol polyester at least 15% by weight of the fatty acid radicals are C20 or higher saturated fatty acid radicals. Further, the slope of the SFC profile of the mixture of (A) and (B) between 37° C. and 21.1° C. is between 0 and about −0.75, and the combined level of (A) and (B) in said composition is at least 10% by weight. Examples include compositions containing 65 wt. % liquid digestible triglyceride oil.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flowable nondigestible oil composition containing a solid at ambient temperature which is flowable at ordinary and ambient temperatures, and which can subsequently be used as an edible nondigestible oil providing good passive oil loss control and good organoleptic properties to foods prepared with them.